Blue Heron Tea Nook

Serpentskin | [I–1] The Body in the Woods

2026-02-13T01:54:25Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

Title: Serpentskin
Rating: Teen
Major Warnings: None
Genre: AU

Summary:

In a world where the Carmine Conspiracy never comes together, Verona is scouted to join the Belanger Circle. With them, she is promised an escape from home, to learn Practice in the vaunted classrooms of the Blue Heron Institute. It’s paradise — or it will be, if she just makes friends and acts presentable like her master Tanner wants her to. And if she does extra well, she may even catch the eye of the canny, charismatic Alexander.

But something is rotten at the heart of the Belanger Circle. Prestige among this crew extracts a heavy cost. As a scrappy apprentice with no other backing, can Verona stay true to herself, or will she bow to the pressures of the new society she is in?

I: The Body in the Woods

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Mortal Chains | Chapter 2

2025-08-26T04:26:24Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

Title: Mortal Chains
Rating: Teen
Major Warnings: Implied/referenced sexual harassment
Genre: Crossover, transmigration

Summary: As an ex-apprentice of the Belanger Circle, Nicolette knows what it is to be on the wrong end of power. Then she is kidnapped across realms and implanted with a mind flayer tadpole — like she doesn’t have enough strange Others slithering around her head already. Now a True Soul, Nicolette has access to authority beyond anything she has ever known, and it will be up to her fellow tadpole victims to persuade her not to use it. Good thing they all are such paragons of responsibility.

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Mortal Chains | Chapter 1

2025-06-10T01:04:54Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

Title: Mortal Chains
Rating: Teen
Major Warnings: Implied/referenced sexual harassment
Genre: Crossover, transmigration

Summary: As an ex-apprentice of the Belanger Circle, Nicolette knows what it is to be on the wrong end of power. Then she is kidnapped across realms and implanted with a mind flayer tadpole — like she doesn’t have enough strange Others slithering around her head already. Now a True Soul, Nicolette has access to authority beyond anything she has ever known, and it will be up to her fellow tadpole victims to persuade her not to use it. Good thing they all are such paragons of responsibility.

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Throw Me to the Wolves (I Thought You Were One)

2025-05-04T08:43:54Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

Title: Throw Me to the Wolves (I Thought You Were One)
Rating: Mature
Major Warnings: Abuse, human trafficking, implied/referenced sexual violence
Genre: Side character focus, angst, emotional whump

Summary:

“Okay, what is it?” Chase asked.

Nicolette straightened up, taking a deep breath. She’d been rehearsing the statement in her head for weeks now.

“When you Awakened me, you took responsibility for several things. First, that you’d help me control the voices in my head. Second, you’d get me a place to stay that wasn’t my parents’ house. Third, you’d teach me how to fend for myself in this world you were bringing me into. You’ve done the first, and I’m grateful for that. The other two have issues that need to be worked out.”

“I got you invited to the Blue Heron, didn’t I? And I sponsored you into the Belanger Circle,” he said.

“Yes. You did,” she said. “Alexander told me that he was willing to waive costs for the first spring session I spent here, but he can’t let me stay for free forever. He needs someone to cover the cost. Until then, I have to do chores for him to make up the gap.”

“And? Why should I care?”

Five times Nicolette sought help escaping Alexander, and one time she rejected it.

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Statism, Canadian Political Culture, and Pale

2024-09-30T15:16:11Z

Posted by: mdfification

Title: Statism, Canadian Political Culture, and Pale
Rating: Everyone
Major Warnings: None (Minor references to racism)
Genre: Meta post
Summary: Pale is in dialogue with Canadian political culture, which is, as in all countries, unique. This post goes into a few tendencies in Canadian society regarding how the state is viewed and how Pale approaches these topics.
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Past, Present, and Future: An Essay on the Belanger Circle

2024-05-05T04:32:43Z

Posted by: lunecat16

Title: Past, Present, and Future: An Essay on the Belanger Circle
Major Warnings: Allusions to familial abuse
Summary: An essay and minor character analysis discussing the Belanger Circle members' major flaws

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You’d be completely at our mercy: how imbalanced power relations at the BHI enable sexual abuse

2024-04-29T07:22:54Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

Title: You’d be completely at our mercy: how imbalanced power relations at the BHI enable sexual abuse
Major Warnings: sexual abuse, sexism
Summary: An examination of sexual abuse at the BHI and things that make people more vulnerable to being targeted by it through a series of case studies.

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Hollow

2024-04-08T19:26:40Z

Posted by: brosephs

Title: Hollow (1)
Rating: Teen
Major Warnings: racism
Genre: Crossover
Summary:Matthew Verona and Lucy are stranded in a world where people are born with Magic

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Kennet Found and Kira-Lynn

2024-02-17T04:38:53Z

Posted by: ironsydes

Title: Kennet Found and Kira-Lynn
Major Warnings: discussion of self-harm, carceral, and psychiatric abuse.
Summary: Analysis of Kira-Lynn's situation at the end of Pale through the lens of forensic psychology and criminal justice, highlighting potential issues and solutions.

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Open Thread #12 - Read Pact Edition

2024-01-26T21:07:59Z

Posted by: mdfification

Open until March 1st.

For any sort of casual chat that isn't suited to be a post of its own, in a slower format than our Discord.

Got a fic you'd like to recommend? Our Fic Recommendation threads are now seasonal as opposed to monthly. Feel free to drop in!

Discussion Prompt: How do the combat scenes in Pact and Pale differ? Which style do you prefer?

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New community for elsewhere fic!

2024-01-20T05:09:51Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

hillsgladehouselibrary is open for all your elsewhere fic needs. Any writing with OC characters that do not interact with the existing serial settings, such as Jacob's Bell or Kennet, is welcome there, provided it meets the content rules.

Post formatting requirements there are similar but slightly different, so make sure to take a look at the rules before sending anything in.

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Fanatical Zeal Chapter 2

2023-12-03T04:34:29Z

Posted by: viceversailles

Title: Fanatical Zeal Chapter 2: Al and his Explosion Potion
Rating: Teen
Major Warnings: Abuse, sexism, transphobia
Genre: Canon Compliant, Side Character Focus

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Open Thread #11 - #FreeBristow

2023-12-03T01:49:11Z

Posted by: mdfification

Open from December 2nd to 23rd.

For any sort of casual chat that isn't suited to be a post of its own, in a slower format than our Discord.

Got a fic you'd like to recommend? Our Fic Recommendation threads are now seasonal as opposed to monthly. Feel free to drop in!

Discussion Prompt: Some readers have said rehabilitative justice was a consistent theme throughout Pale. But was it?

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A leash in the guise of kindness: the glove situation in E.5

2023-11-18T06:54:48Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

Title: A leash in the guise of kindness: the glove situation in E.5
Major Warnings: Ableism
Summary: By the end of Pale, Kira-Lynn is a disabled teenager kept in an isolated cell in Kennet Found. Though the narrative presents this as a sad but necessary method to keep others safe from her, the conditions of Kira-Lynn’s imprisonment in Kennet Found are significantly harsher than should be required to meet that goal. This is most apparent in the method that Kennet Found chooses to accommodate Kira-Lynn’s lack of hands, which unnecessarily reduces her autonomy.

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Minor ramble: Why is Pale so looooooooong though?

2023-11-13T05:46:20Z

Posted by: astridplus

Title: Minor ramble: Why is Pale so looooooooong though?
Major Warnings: Abuse
Summary: I give my thoughts on themes and structure I've had bouncing in my head for a couple years. Contains vague descriptions of Ward's ending; I avoided any specific plot or character details. Spoilers for all of Pale.

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Open Thread #10 - Snowfall Inbound

2023-11-04T22:23:17Z

Posted by: mdfification

Open from November 4th to 17th.

For any sort of casual chat that isn't suited to be a post of its own, in a slower format than our Discord.

Our End of Pale Bonanza event is ongoing!

Got a fic you'd like to recommend? Our Fic Recommendation threads are now seasonal as opposed to monthly. Feel free to drop in!

Discussion Prompt: Wildbow recently has begun his post-mortem of Pale, and revealed three characters were protagonists in an earlier draft. Were they the ones you expected? Who did you think was originally conceived as a protagonist?

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Verona, Master Scrivener

2023-10-24T11:37:39Z

Posted by: viceversailles

Title: Verona, Master Scrivener
Rating: Teen
Major Warnings: None
Genre: Action
Summary: Written for the End of Pale Bonanza, in response to a prompt from seafoam15: "There was much more mention of the direction Verona's practice could have gone if her pen that could move letters around hadn't been broken. How do you think things would have gone if she'd been able to keep it?"

- :3 -

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empty thrones (ch8; flowers blooming at the edge of the universe)

2023-10-24T01:00:28Z

Posted by: lunecat16

Title: empty thrones
Rating: Mature
Major Warnings: Body horror, graphic violence, familial abuse, other warnings included in fic. for this chapter specifically, suicidal ideation -- short, but worth the head's up anyway.
Genre: Canon Divergence

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Open Thread #9 - let the Sable oversee the Pale

2023-10-21T08:08:53Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

Open from Oct 21 to Nov 3.

For any sort of casual chat that isn't suited to be a post of its own, in a slower format than our Discord.

Pale has recently ended! Take part in the End of Pale Bonanza event by writing fic, with more points for using submitted prompts! Runs until Nov 19.

Read any good Otherverse fics lately? Seen any particularly inspiring meta or art? Share it in the October rec thread!

Discussion question based on the recent APU2 stream: if you had to pick one friend and one enemy out of all the characters in Pale, who would it be?

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Fanatical Zeal; or, Songetay Solves The Placement Test, Chapter 1

2023-10-15T22:22:12Z

Posted by: viceversailles

Title: Fanatical Zeal Chapter 1: Velvet and Her Iron Glove
Rating: Teen
Major Warnings: Abuse, sexism, transphobia
Genre: Canon Compliant, Side Character Focus
Summary: Velvet awakens to discover that she didn't exist moments ago. Her practitioner, Easton Songetay, has fallen victim to The Placement Test, a Ritual Incarnate of unknown allegiance that transforms people into places and their possessions into people. Velvet is Easton's Implement, the gauntlet with which he conjures elements and rules his summons. Left stranded on the cusp of the ritual's game, Velvet and her motley crew decide to play.

Easton's friend Myles keeps giving her weird looks, though. Wonder what that's about?

Set around the Sword Moot, after Easton and Myles' stay in Kennet Found, but before the end of Pale.

---

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Kitty Caper

2023-10-15T02:46:12Z

Posted by: seafoam15

Title: Kitty Caper
Rating: General
Major Warnings: None.
Genre: Gen, comedy, fluff.
Summary: Written for the End of Pale Bonanza, in response to a prompt from viceVersailles: "Kittycough reports to her handler, Blankshanks, about her attempts to infiltrate the growing Goblin Market in Kennet Below."

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Open Thread #8 - moving up in the world

2023-10-08T02:38:47Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

Open from Oct 7 to Oct 20.

Big news happening for the Tea Nook! We're expanding in a lot of different directions. The Tea Nook now has a Discord server for people to chat in, discuss Otherverse, and plan fics out. Permanent links will be kept in the stickied Site Navigation post and the navigation sidebar module on the right. The open thread system will still run to allow people who prefer a slower speed to have somewhere to talk, though the pacing of it may be adjusted depending on how much it is used.

In addition, mdfification has joined the team as new community admin. Please welcome him onboard.

The October rec thread can be viewed here. Read any good Otherverse fics lately? Spread the word there!

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Regret

2023-10-08T02:20:50Z

Posted by: eromancery

Title: Regret
Rating: Teen
Major Warnings: No Major Warnings Apply
Genre: Canon Compliant
Summary: Before the end, Miss and Toadswallow talk about what could have been.

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Rec Thread #4 - October [now extended to fall]

2023-10-02T21:12:28Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

Edit: now open until Dec 1

What Otherverse stuff have you been reading that you want to share with others? Does not have to be hosted on the BHTN or strictly focuses on canon characters to be mentioned here. Can be both fic and meta.

Make sure to state the name of piece and the platform it is on, or give a link to it directly.

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fist in the air (and head in the sand)

2023-09-22T05:33:30Z

Posted by: sunlit_skycat

Title: fist in the air (and her head in the sand
Rating: Teen
Major Warnings: None apply
Genre: Daemon AU, character study
Summary: When Lucy is under siege, Martinus stands with her, transforming into something that bristles as much as she cannot and raising all the points she keeps in her head. Strangers mutter about how often Martinus spends as a roaring lion or prickly hedgehog in public, but they don't see the way he spills over Lucy's lap as a prize bunny or prances to experimental music as a goat when alone.

Written withdrowninstylisticaudacity.

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